Using Alternative Media to Generate More Customers

Written by David Frey


Copyright 2005 David Frey

Last week I received a very nice thank you gift from a friend of mine, Eric Ruth, who is arguablyrepparttar number one marketing coach torepparttar 145714 personal fitness trainer industry.

Eric, asked if he could interview me about a specific topic and I agreed.

After it was done, Eric sent me a bunch of filet mignon steaks from Omaha Steaks (Thanks Eric).

Butrepparttar 145715 steaks are not what this article is about.

It's what was insiderepparttar 145716 Omaha Steaks box that I want to talk to you about.

You see, two things came withrepparttar 145717 steaks. One was a Omaha Steaks cookbook.

The cookbook not only contained recipes but also a bunch of bounceback special offers.

Each of these offers were specifically designed to get you to call Omaha Steaks up and order more steaks.

And Here Wasrepparttar 145718 Second Thing that Was Inrepparttar 145719 Omaha Steaks Box...

The second thing was a blue envelope that said, "Don't Miss Out - Special Offers from Americas Favorite Companies."

Here's what they looked like:

http://url123.com/5p2zq

The contents ofrepparttar 145720 blue envelope included what is known inrepparttar 145721 marketing industry as, "package insert."

_____________________

Package Inserts 101 _____________________

Package inserts are basically advertisements that get inserted into packages that are being sent out from various vendors.

For instance, in this case, Omaha Steaks sends thousands of boxes to its customers. It sells space in its boxes to other companies who want to advertise to Omaha Steaks customers. This is called a "Package Insert Program" or PIP for short.

There are thousands of PIP program offered by many companies. Here are just a sampling ofrepparttar 145722 type of companies that provide PIP programs:

Amazon

American Stationary

Divers Direct

Crafts Enthusiasts

Global Industrial Equipment

Kingfisher Maps

Mantis Gardening Tools

Pitney Bowes

Speed Gear

Toyfare

Vitamin World

Zoysia Grass Plugs

Ifrepparttar 145723 profile of your target customer matchesrepparttar 145724 profile ofrepparttar 145725 customers that these companies sell to then you might consider a PIP advertising program with them.

The going rate for package inserts averages around $60 per thousand packages. What this means is that you pay $60 and your insert will be sent out with 1,000 packages.

This relatively cheap when you consider that renting a list for a solo mailing might cost anywhere from $100 to $250 per thousand names.

Onrepparttar 145726 other hand,repparttar 145727 response rates for inserts are much lower than direct mail. An acceptable response rate used for PIP programs are typically measured in tenths of a percent vs.repparttar 145728 2-5 percent return of solo direct mailings.

The number of inserts in a package can vary from four to eight. Generally, only non-competitive pieces are included together in one package.

Here's a photo ofrepparttar 145729 inserts that came inrepparttar 145730 Omaha Steaks package I received.

http://url123.com/5krn7

As you can see, there are only three inserts from these companies:

1. Hawthorne Village (model trains)

2. Discover (credit cards)

3. Select Comfort (beds)

Here's Why You Should Consider Using a PIP Advertising Program in Your Marketing Mix

1. You getrepparttar 145731 power of direct mail at about 20% of what you'd normally pay for a direct mail campaign.

2. You can target specific niche markets and consumer segments.

3. You can target people byrepparttar 145732 way that they buy (i.e. mail order buyers, phone order buyers, television order buyer etc.).

4. You get category exclusivity inrepparttar 145733 mailing (i.e. no competing offers to worry about).

5. Your offer gets an implied endorsement fromrepparttar 145734 company mailingrepparttar 145735 package.

I'm not saying that you should base your entire marketing program on insert media. What I'm saying is that using inserts can be a good compliment to how you're already advertising your product or service.

Withrepparttar 145736 shrinking list market, package inserts are a good alternative way to prospect for qualified leads. It's hard for companies, I think, to rule it out. ______________________________________________________

Here's a Few Tips to Getrepparttar 145737 Most Out of PIP Programs ______________________________________________________

Tip # 1

Be very careful of how you pick a PIP program. It's much like picking a mailing list. You have to pick a PIP program that is reaching people who are good prospects for your product or service.

Make sure you set aside some time to sit with your broker to identifyrepparttar 145738 characteristics ofrepparttar 145739 programs that work. Then find plans that share these characteristics, and put a plan in place to test them.

Why Your Internet Business Is Like The Stock Market

Written by Patty Gale


As savvy stock market investors know, chasing afterrepparttar one "hot stock" withrepparttar 145663 possibility of bringing instant riches is not a wise idea. You knowrepparttar 145664 old saying, "Don't put your eggs in one basket". This type of thinking carries a high risk. If your stock goes up and you are smart enough to sell, then you've made money. However, if your stock falls, you just don't know when (or if) it will ever make a comeback.

With this idea of chasing afterrepparttar 145665 "hot stock ofrepparttar 145666 day", you might as well buy a lottery ticket. Diversifying your investment portfolio for long-term growth and stability isrepparttar 145667 wiser ofrepparttar 145668 strategy. You invest your money over any number of stocks in different industries, thereby spreading your risk acrossrepparttar 145669 group.

The same principle should be applied to your internet business. Many of us first arrived online withrepparttar 145670 notion of building a really great website to reachrepparttar 145671 masses in hopes of making a lot of money. We later found out thatrepparttar 145672 "build it and they will come" theory is just that, a theory. Oh sure, there are a few who have managed to create a nice income from just one or perhaps two websites, but even Amazon didn't turn a profit until 2001.

Unfortunately, most of us do not have unlimited financial resources. Many have given up, only to go back to either a corporate job or some other type of work in order to support their family. What they did not realize is that their internet business really should be treated like their investment portfolio.

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